Ant-Man is crawling over the calendar! Edgar Wright’s planned adaptation of the Marvel Comics character – which has been in the works for years now – was originally due to arrive (in US cinemas, at least) on November 6, 2015. Now Hank Pym and co will be squatting in the summer, rubbing elbows with the other blockbusters on the prime real estate that is July 31, 2015{
It’s a ballsy move by Marvel, especially since Warner Bros. has the Batman/Superman film set for July 17 across the pond that year; Marvel will be hoping that everyone flocks to that in the first two weeks and is ready for something different by the end of the month. So far, however, the only direct competition scheduled for the date itself is 20th Century Fox’s Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children.
The move points to Marvel’s confidence in the character and Wright’s script, which he’s worked on with Joe Cornish. It also tends to reinforce the current suspicion that Star Wars: Episode VII will be a Christmas release instead of trying to squeeze into one of the most crowded summer release schedules ever created. Disney alone also has The Avengers: Age Of Ultron (May 1), Pixar’s** Inside Out** (June 19) and the fifth Pirates Of The Caribbean (July 10) to think about.
As for what, if anything, Disney/Marvel will put into November instead is anyone’s guess. Moving the tale of the scientist hero who develops a formula that allows him to change his size had the happy side effect of avoiding any competition with the next James Bond film, so perhaps they'll want to leave that space alone.
Still, it’s good to know we won’t have to wait quite as long for a new Edgar Wright film, even if it means more pressure on him to deliver it earlier. While the UK date has not yet been confirmed, we imagine it will be within a week or so of the US debut; possibly giving us a look a week early if Marvel's form is anything to go by. Let's hope so.